I probably say this nearly every time I do a drawing progression post, but I’m not very good at remembering to take pictures as I draw (and then, when I do, it can apparently take a year to get around to making a post with them). But I do enjoy looking back and seeing the changes as more and more color is added, even in a smaller, simple drawing, like the Pink & White Lady’s Slipper (which is just another name for the more commonly used Showy Lady’s Slipper, and I already have one lady’s slipper drawing by that name).

Believe it or not, I added very little color to the background between drawing #3 and the final; most of the change is a result of blending the colors already laid down. Most colored pencils have a high wax content (such as your basic school brands and Prismacolor), and the best way to blend them is with colorless blending pencils (a wonderful invention). However, the Faber-Castell colored pencils I used on this drawing have a much higher oil content than wax, so one can treat them a bit like oil paint. A little bit of turpenoid on a paintbrush liquifies the pigment and helps spread it out, blending the colors and filling in the white gaps on the paper texture. Too much turpenoid would dissolve the color–not well enough to use it as an eraser, but enough to make a mess. But a little bit can really smooth out the background and bring out the color!